Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 6 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
#24607 04/10/01 03:42 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
"What happens in very many cases is that a custom arises from a humdrum and everyday usage or practice. As times change and there is no longer a practical reason for keeping it up, there is the usual human reaction to go on doing the same thing, so people tend, consciously or unconsciously, to find a justification to keep on doing the same thing the same way."

Which reminds me of the story ...

Of the new bride who was excited to host Easter dinner for her new family, and planned to cook a ham according to the tradition of her own family. Using her mother's recipe, the woman cut the ham in two and simultaneously baked them in separate pans. However, when her husband asked her why the ham was in two pieces, the bride said, "I don't know. It's the way my mom always did it." So, the bride called her mother, who said, "I don't know. That's the way my mother always did it." So then the mother called her mother and asked why she baked the ham in two pieces. And grandmother said, "Because I didn't have a single pan big enough."


#24608 04/10/01 03:45 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
"Right up until mid C19, the majority opinion among the medical profession was that whatever it was that carried disease was actually in the smell itself. This is known as 'the miasmic theory of disease.'"

Hence, the name, "malaria."


#24609 04/29/01 03:55 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
" aloof! An old expression meaning 'Keep your luff', or sail as close to the wind as possible. Sometimes, in old books of voyages, written as 'ALUFFE'. The expression was most often used when a ship was sailing along a lee shore, the order to 'keep aloof' meaning to keep the ship's head nearer to the wind to prevent her being driven closer to the shore. "

Any etymology experts among us able to tell how this nautical term changed to mean

"distant in sympathy, interest, etc.; reserved and cool !her manner was aloof"





#24610 04/29/01 04:41 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
adv.
1. [naut] sail nearer the wind
2. [naut] away to the windward
3. hence generally, of position: away at some distance
4. of action: from a distance, not at close quarters
5. fig. without community of action or feeling
6. as compl. or pred.: at a distance; distant; hence, detached, unsympathetic

hence attrib. as adj. distant (obs. rare), also, detached, unsympathetic

QED



#24611 04/29/01 06:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
The small room or closet adjoining the kitchen that is ordinarily called the pantry, was called by my father "the buttry". I just found origin of this word in Melanie and Mike:

Butt "barrel" comes from a different source than all of the above: Latin buttis "cask". Bottle is related. A storeroom of casks of wine was called a buterie, and that is where the U.K. English term buttery "food shop in a college" comes from. So if you get thee to a buttery, it does not have to be a fattening experience.


#24612 04/29/01 11:22 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Latin buttis "cask". Bottle is related. A storeroom of casks of wine was called a buterie, and that is where the U.K. English term buttery "food shop in a college" comes from

Cool, Bill! Yup, the French word for bottle is
bouteille: all this is now clearly related. Thanks.

And, re: aloof--I reckon aluffe meant that the ship is
standing off (from the shore), and so aloof for people means
they're stand-offish.


#24613 04/29/01 11:31 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Cool, Bill! Yup, the French word for bottle is
bouteille: all this is now clearly related. Thanks.


All this talk of bottles reminds me of the fiasco that brought me here in the first place - what goes around comes around, plus ça change, etc.


#24614 04/29/01 11:40 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
All this talk of bottles reminds me of the fiasco that brought me here in the first place - what goes around comes around, plus ça change, etc.
You mean you played Spin the Bottle?!?




#24615 04/29/01 11:43 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
You mean you played Spin the Bottle?!?

Search for fiasco and all will be revealed (which may well happen in Spin The Bottle as well)


#24616 04/30/01 12:17 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Wasn't Amontillado el Fiasco a character in Asterix in Spain?



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
Page 6 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,580
Members9,187
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Karin, JeffMackwood, artguitar, Jim_W, Rdbuffalo
9,187 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 332 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,713
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,931
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5